FLTEACH Welcome Message (sent to all new subscribers)

Dear New FLTEACH Subscriber,

1. Welcome
==========
We are very pleased to welcome you to the Foreign Language Teaching Forum e-mail list. Subscription is
free and subscribers will receive FLTEACH messages in their email account. This list distributes
electronic mail allowing members to "post" and reply to messages of interest to all FLTEACH subscribers.

The topic of this list is Foreign Language Teaching methods including school / college articulation, training of
student teachers, curriculum, standards, materials, and techniques. We hope that this list will also be used to
foster a community in which colleagues can share ideas, outlines, handouts and other teaching materials,
syllabi, and bibliographies. We ask all subscribers to submit a very brief biographical statement to help
members get to know each other. You will receive a bio template shortly. You can search through the
FLTEACH message archive and subscriber biographies via the FLTEACH World Wide Web site, see below,
where we have collected these and many other useful Foreign Language Electronic Resources.

We seek to foster networking among foreign language professionals in the
context of Bridging the Gap between and among all levels of FL learning
and in all of the different sorts of classroom environments where FL learning
takes place. This project was begun as the result of meetings among
teachers at NYSAFLT (New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers)
showing the need of a forum for discussion of issues of concern to us at
all levels.

Using this LISTSERV list is not difficult. To get help, send a one-line
command in a message to:

FLTEACH mail will normally be sent to you in the form of separate messages.
It is possible for you to set your subscriber option to DIGEST in order
to receive all FLTEACH messages in a single e-mail once each day. The command
to set the digest feature should be sent to:

LISTSERV@listserv.buffalo.edu

in the single line:

SET FLTEACH DIGEST

To switch back to regular mail:

SET FLTEACH NODIGEST

You may also elect to use the INDEX mode. In this case you will receive
only the subject lines for all daily postings. You can then select individual
messages that you wish to receive in their entirety.

SET FLTEACH INDEX

Be careful when following INDEX directions. Be sure that no ">" symbols
are inserted before the critical PRINT lines in the INDEX reply form.

The INDEX and DIGEST options can be set to be plain text, MIME format, or
HTML format with links. HTML Index is easier to use because you can just click
on any message you wish to read.

SET FLTEACH MIME (or NOMIME)
SET FLTEACH HTML (or NOHTML)

You may have the list name [FLTEACH] automatically inserted into the
subject line of every posting that you receive as an aid to sorting messages:

SET FLTEACH SUBJECTHDR

If your EMAIL software does not display message header informatioin
including the name of the sender of LIST mail, you can set a dual header
that will include this information in every posting your receive:

SET FLTEACH DUALHDR

or return to the normal full headers:

SET FLTEACH FULL

3. World Wide Web and News access
============================
FLTEACH also provides access to the list archives and to a selection
of popular collections of WWW resources for FL teachers on our WWW page:

For subscribers who do not wish to receive FLTEACH via email and who have trouble accessing the WWW
archives, there is RSS news feed access for FLTEACH. You can find a few RSS options on our Ancillaries page:

4. Leaving FLTEACH, temporarily and permanently
====================================
You can leave FLTEACH permanently by sending the command:

SIGNOFF FLTEACH

You can leave FLTEACH temporarily by sending the command:

SET FLTEACH NOMAIL

and can then restart FLTEACH by sending the command:

SET FLTEACH MAIL

You should SET FLTEACH NOMAIL if you will be away from your mailbox
for an extended period of time. Your in-box could overflow causing filespace
problems. If you wish to catch up on what you missed, you can GET the monthly
logs from LISTSERV@listserv.buffalo.edu by sending the command (for example:
March 1996 = 9603):

GET FLTEACH LOG9603

You can also obtain these logs and examine the FLTEACH message archive
or subscriber biographical statements by keyword search on the FLTEACH
WWW page.

5. Posting Guidelines
===============
A. Remember that any LISTSERV commands MUST be sent from your address
to the computer program LISTSERV@listserv.buffalo.edu, not to the other
subscribers at: FLTEACH@listserv.buffalo.edu.

B. Send personal messages to the individual for whom they are intended,
not to the entire list. All FLTEACH subscribers are very busy, please be
courteous and take the time to check the "TO:" line in your message to
be sure where it is going. "REPLY" usually sends a message to the entire
list. You may wish to use the FORWARD or SEND functions of your e-mail
software to direct answers to individuals whenever possible. Be especially
careful to avoid posting "me too" or "I agree" type replies.

C. Use SUBJECT headers that indicate the real content of your posting.
Also be sure to include enough information in your replies so that the
context of your message is clear. You might wish to summarize the message
to which you are replying or include a brief extract.

D. Always remember to sign your name at the beginning or end of your
message so that readers know who you are.

E. Messages of a commercial nature are NOT ALLOWED. This means
any exchange of money for goods or services by either for-profit or non-profit
companies or organizations. We also strongly discourage the use of
this list for organizational public relations. If you have any doubts
about sending a message, please ask the moderators. We will be happy
to help you stay within our guidelines. FLTEACH does have a free and unrestricted
Bulletin Board that is available for such messages: http://flteach.freeforums.net/board/1/flteach-announcements

F. Please do NOT send attachments as part of your FLTEACH posting.
While some subscribers are able to retrieve attachments, many more are
not and their inclusion causes many problems for numerous mail accounts.

We encourage you to post comments, questions, and suggestions about
Foreign Language Teaching to "FLTEACH@listserv.buffalo.edu". This discussion
list is intended as a forum for you to communicate with your colleagues
at other schools. We expect all postings to reflect the open, friendly,
collegial, and professional atmosphere that has always existed on FLTEACH.
Participation in FLTEACH is dependent upon following these guidelines.
Messages that do not follow the guidelines may not be posted, and failure
to follow the guidelines will result in exclusion from the list.

6. TOPICS on FLTEACH
===================

FLTEACH now has three topics: FLES (for EARLY LANGUAGE LEARNING), NADSFL
(for NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DISTRICT SUPERVISORS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES),
and NEW-VISIONS (New
Visions in Foreign Language Education). The default setting for subscribers
does not include messages directed specifically to these topics. If you
wish to change your setting, please use the instructions below.

If you wish to participate in the subtopic XXX on FLTEACH, send the
following commands to LISTSERV@listserv.buffalo.edu:

SET FLTEACH TOPICS= XXX (you will receive only messages whose subject
line begins with XXX:)

SET FLTEACH TOPICS= ALL (you will receive all FLTEACH messages, including
XXX topics)

SET FLTEACH TOPICS= OTHER (you will receive all FLTEACH messages except
XXX: topics) This is the default setting.

7. Please tell your colleagues about FLTEACH!
=================================
This forum will grow in usefulness as more foreign language professionals
use it.

If you have any suggestions, or need any help with FLTEACH, please let
us know by sending a message to us (Jean and Bob) personally, NOT to FLTEACH.
Our e-mail and school addresses are listed below.